Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sustained 11 new leaders — eight General Authority Seventies and the three members of the new Primary general presidency — during the Saturday afternoon session of the 191st Annual General Conference on April 3.
President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, announced the new calls and conducted the sustaining of Church leaders. He also announced the release of the outgoing Primary presidency and the release of six Area Seventies who were then sustained as new General Authority Seventies.
President Oaks also noted that two members of the Presidency of the Seventy — Elder Robert C. Gay and Elder Terence M. Vinson — would complete their presidency assignments on Aug. 1, 2021, and invited a vote of appreciation for the service of the two.
He also presented Elder Paul V. Johnson and Elder S. Mark Palmer — both General Authority Seventies — to be sustained to the Presidency of the Seventy, effective Aug. 1. Elder Johnson currently serves as commissioner of the Church Education System; Elder Palmer is president of the Africa South Area.
Two days earlier, in the conference’s opening-day leadership session, 77 new Area Seventies were announced and sustained.
New General Authority Seventies
Elder Sean Douglas, 58, was serving as an Area Seventy in the Eleventh Quorum of the Seventy in the North America Southwest Area.
He is the executive vice president and chief financial officer for Huntsman Corp.; other positions he held there since 1990 include division controller, treasurer, vice president of administration and vice president of corporate development. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Utah in 1988.
Previous Church service includes full-time missionary in the Chile Concepción Mission, elders quorum president, area executive secretary, bishopric counselor, bishop, Area Seventy executive secretary, ward Young Men president, Perú Lima South Mission president (2012-2015) and stake missionary preparation teacher.
Born in Salt Lake City on May 1, 1964, he married Patricia Ann Dickson in 1985; they are the parents of four children.
Elder Michael A. Dunn, 63, was serving as an Area Seventy in the Twelfth Quorum of the Seventy in the Utah Area.
The managing director of BYUtv and BYU Radio since 2017, he had previously been general manager of KUED (PBS Utah) and from 1995 to 2010 president of Dunn Communications Inc. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in mass communications in 1981 and a Master of Arts degree in communications in 2008, both from the University of Utah.
His previous Church service includes full-time missionary in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission, counselor in a bishopric, high councilor, bishop, stake president, ward Young Men president and South Africa Johannesburg Mission president (2014-2017).
Born in Tucson, Arizona, on March 5, 1958, he married Linda Virginia Poulson in 1980; they are the parents of three children.
Elder Clark G. Gilbert, 50, had been serving as an Area Seventy in the Twelfth Quorum of the Seventy in the Utah Area.
The president of BYU-Pathway Worldwide since 2017, he was president of Brigham Young University–Idaho previous to that beginning in 2015. He had previously worked at Harvard University, BYU-Idaho, Deseret News and Deseret Digital Media. He has a 1994 Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from BYU, a 1995 Master of Arts degree in Asia studies from Stanford University, and a 2001 Doctor of Business Administration degree from Harvard.
Previous Church service includes full-time missionary in the Japan Kobe Mission, elders quorum president, ward Sunday School teacher, stake Young Men presidency counselor, stake presidency counselor and bishop.
Born in Oakland, California, on June 18, 1970, he married Christine Calder in 1994; they are the parents of eight children.
Elder Patricio M. Giuffra, 58, was serving as a stake young single adult leader at the time of this call as a General Authority Seventy. He had previously served as an Area Seventy from 2015 to 2020 in the Ninth Quorum of the Seventy in the South America South Area.
General manager for Arotex SA, he had previously worked as purchasing manager for Woodgrain Millwork, sales manager and operations manager for Alvenius Chilena and general manager for Carbotech Chile. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing in 1990 and a Master of Business Administration degree with emphasis in marketing and operations in 1994, both from BYU.
His previous Church service includes full-time missionary in the Chile Osorno Mission, assistant stake executive secretary, stake Young Men president, bishop and stake president.
Born in Valparaíso, Chile, on April 6, 1962, he married Maria Eugenia Gonzalez in 1992; they are the parents of four children.
Elder Alfred Kyungu, 54, was serving as an Area Seventy in the Third Quorum of the Seventy in the Africa Central Area, and prior to that in the Africa Southeast Area from 2011 to 2016.
Working for the Church as a family history manager, he had previously been coordinator and regional director for Seminaries and Institutes. He had also worked previously for the Democratic Republic of the Congo government.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree in social sciences and international relations in 1993 and a Master of Science degree in the same in 1996, both from the University of Lubumbashi.
Previous Church callings include stake Sunday School president, district executive secretary, institute teacher, Sunday School teacher, bishopric counselor, high councilor, stake presidency counselor and Democratic Republic of the Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission president (2016-2019).
Born in Makina, Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Oct. 31, 1966, he married Lucie Kabulo Malele in 1998; they are the parents of three children.
Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, 50, was serving as president of the Utah Salt Lake City South Mission at the time of his call. Prior to that, he served as an Area Seventy, first in the Sixth Quorum of the Seventy in the North America Southeast Area from 2012 to 2016 and then in the Eighth Quorum in the Asia Area from 2016 to 2018.
Prior to his full-time service as mission president, he was senior vice president at Asurion. Earlier work experience included being a Six Sigma Black Belt for GE Capital and a consultant for Boston Consulting Group. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from BYU in 1994 and a Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2001.
Previous Church callings include stake president, mission presidency counselor, bishop, Sunday School teacher and missionary in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission.
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on July 22, 1970, he married Jennifer Edgin in 1998; they are the parents of six children.
Elder Carlos G. Revillo Jr., 55, was serving as an Area Seventy in the Eighth Quorum of the Seventy in the Philippines Area.
The Church’s welfare and self-reliance manager in the Philippines, his previous work experience includes 22 years in various management positions for Procter & Gamble in the Philippines, the Asia-Pacific region and at the company’s global headquarters in the United States. He also was head of quality, food safety and regulatory affairs in Asia for the Kellogg Co. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of Santo Tomas in 1986.
Previous Church callings include full-time missionary in the Philippines Bacolod Mission, bishop, stake president, seminary teacher, high councilor and president of the Philippines Quezon City Mission (2013-2016).
Born in General Santos City, Philippines, on Nov. 8, 1965, he married Marites Enriquez Fernando in 1989; they are the parents of four children.
Elder Vaiangina Sikahema, 58, was serving as an Area Seventy in the Tenth Quorum of the Seventy in the North America Northeast Area.
He is a retired television sports and news anchor and a retired professional American football player. He played in the National Football League for the Arizona Cardinals, Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles. He became a sports anchor for NBC10 Philadelphia in 1994 and news anchor in 2013 until his retirement in 2020. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcasting and communications from BYU in 2002.
Previous Church experience includes full-time missionary in the South Dakota Rapid City Mission, ward Young Men president, bishop, mission presidency counselor and stake president.
Born in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, on Aug. 29, 1962, he married Keala Heder in 1984; they are the parents of four children.
New Primary general presidency
President Camille N. Johnson, 57, is president of the Snow, Christensen & Martineau law firm in Salt Lake City. She served with her husband as he presided over the Perú Arequipa Mission from 2016-2019.
She has worked as a lawyer for three decades. She graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1985 and then a law degree in 1989.
Born Sept. 12, 1963, in Pocatello, Idaho, she married Douglas R. Johnson on July 31, 1987; they are the parents of three children.
Previous Church callings include ward Young Women president, ward Relief Society and Primary presidency counselor, Sunday School and Relief Society teacher and full-time missionary and companion to her husband as he presided over the Arequipa mission.
Sister Susan H. Porter, 65, has been serving as a member of the Relief Society general advisory board since 2017.
Born July 31, 1955, in Ponca City, Oklahoma, and raised in New York, she married Bruce D. Porter on Feb. 2, 1977. He later served as a General Authority and passed away in 2016. They raised their four children in the eastern United States, Germany and Utah and fulfilled Church assignments in Russia and the Middle East.
She graduated from BYU with a degree in chemistry. In addition to volunteering with various community and civic organizations, she has worked as a lab assistant for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and as a part-time math teacher.
Previous Church service includes as stake Relief Society presidency counselor, ward Relief Society president, ward Young Women presidency counselor, ward Young Women camp director and Primary music leader.
Sister Amy Wright, 49, had been serving on the Young Women general advisory board since 2018.
Born Jan. 6, 1972, in Salt Lake City, she married James M. Wright on June 24, 1994; they are parents of three children.
Her previous Church callings include stake Primary president, ward Primary president, ward Primary presidency counselor, Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society teacher and Cub Scout leader.
She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in human development and family studies in 1998 from the University of Utah. She volunteered with the PTA and Spectrum Program. She also worked as a reading tutor at a Title 1 elementary school and as an office manager at Marquette University’s College of Communication, where she helped facilitate an urban journalism camp for inner-city youth. More recently she assisted with marketing and advertising for Eagle Gate Dental.
Released leaders
Released as Area Seventies were six of the newly called General Authority Seventies — Elder Douglas, Elder Dunn, Elder Gilbert, Elder Kyungu, Elder Revillo and Elder Sikahema.
Also released were the three members of the outgoing Primary general presidency, including President Joy D. Jones, who had served since her call at the April 2016 general conference. At that time, President Jones’ counselors were Sister Jean B. Bingham and Sister Bonnie H. Cordon — the latter called as Young Women general president in April 2018 and the former as Relief Society general president in 2017.
Released as the outgoing Primary general presidency counselors were Sister Lisa L. Harkness, who had served as first counselor since April 2018, and Sister Cristina B. Franco, who had served as second counselor since April 2017.
